Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,366,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173,412 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $94,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter worth $244,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.1% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.1% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 11,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 33.2% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AZN shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN opened at $68.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $52.65 and a twelve month high of $76.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.06 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 30.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th will be issued a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 45.73%.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Andexxa/Ondexxya, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, Xigduo/Xigduo, and Zestril XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Bricanyl Respules and Turbuhaler, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Rhinocort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tezspire for respiratory and immunology; and Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.